WP 3.0.2 + your theme + other plugins were running near your PHP memory limit of 32MB. Role Scoper pushed you over that limit. Giving your user the "manage_options" capability is a phantom solution in that it just eliminated enough code execution to keep you just below the memory limit.
Some ways to slightly reduce RS memory usage:
- disable Roles > Options > Features tab > Content Maintenance > Filter Users dropdown
- disable Roles > Options > Advanced tab > Role Assignment Interface > "Indicate Blended Roles"
- in Roles > Options > Realm, disable anything you don't need filtered by Role Scoper
If you confirm that all activated plugins (and plugin options) are necessary and memory usage is still too high, you may need to increase the PHP memory limit by adding this to wp-config.php, above the "stop editing" line:
define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '64M');